Chapter 109
Chapter 109
Feral Cat Collector
***
Using the access code I received from Im Sol, I opened the panic room and stepped inside, where I saw the back of a man sitting with his back turned. He was another child of Baek Seok-do—Baek Ryang. I hadn’t expected there to be a guest, so Ga-on reacted immediately.
I aimed Qiongqi at him.
What stopped me was—
“Wait!”
It was a woman as white as snow.
“Hm? Miss Snow. It’s okay……, I can see.”
Baek Seol was surrounded by androids. I clearly remembered them as the ones who used to trail behind Baek Ryang, so I circled around her, wondering if she had been harmed—but there were no visible injuries.
Even though Baek Ryang wasn’t the type to leave her alone.
Feeling suspicious, I turned my head toward Baek Ryang, and only then did I notice his pitch-black, lifeless face.
“…….”
His pupils were empty, and what lingered within them was resignation. It was a reaction that didn’t suit Baek Ryang, who had always been stubborn and willful.
“What happened?”
“I don’t even know what’s what myself.”
It was such a vacant answer that it was hard to believe it came from the person involved.
“No, you were together just a moment ago.”
“That’s exactly why I can say that. I was at a loss too.”
I turned my head toward Baek Ryang again.
Had he given up after realizing Baek Gi’s true identity, or had he noticed Baek Geum-do’s malice and resigned himself?
Either way, it felt pointless to keep pressing Baek Seol, who knew nothing, so I relayed the results so far.
“For now, the situation’s been sorted out.”
“The attack? Already?”
“Yeah.”
I had just finished uprooting everything. It hadn’t been a particularly difficult process. After all, that mysterious group only held any meaning as long as Baek Geum-do and Baek Ryang were still standing.
As if proving those words, Alfredo appeared a beat late. After looking around at everyone, he didn’t seem particularly surprised that Baek Seol, who had been at a disadvantage, had won—
“It seems things have been settled.”
That brief remark was all he gave.
“Then let’s all move. The Chairman is calling for you.”
***
There had been a woman who visited every weekend.
I didn’t remember her name. I couldn’t recall her face either. Not even what kind of expression she used to wear.
Now, they were all faded memories. But the warmth of her hand as she stroked my head remained etched in my mind. To a boy who had always been alone, her affection was both unfamiliar and comforting.
Maybe that was why.
Overwhelmed by a love I didn’t deserve, I crossed the line without realizing it.
I had asked to become part of her family, but she shook her head as if apologetic.
Her refusal, something I had never expected, came back to me as a deep wound.
So strong that it shook my still-immature heart.
Pain turned into anger, and anger soon turned into doubt. Maybe the love she showed me had been fake.
That thought changed one day, when an alarm rang out.
Amid the chaos that erupted across the colony, the person called the director ran away without even looking back.
As a young boy, all I could do was helplessly watch the orphanage collapse.
The entire city was engulfed in flames.
As I wandered in confusion, not knowing what to do, the one who appeared before me was the woman I had been avoiding out of hurt feelings.
“Let’s go.”
Led by the same warm hand as always, I walked endlessly. My legs hurt, and my throat felt tight, but as long as I was with her, it felt like I could go anywhere. Even if this relationship was a lie.
But that was nothing more than my vague wish. Just childish clinginess.
In that scene of utter chaos, only one person could escape—two people making it out together had never been possible from the start.
Right. The woman had come, willing to give up her own chance.
A sacrifice filled with unconditional love.
Only then did the boy realize that he had merely been throwing a tantrum.
He had only wanted confirmation. Whether she still loved him. Whether they could continue to stay together.
But the chance to correct his mistake would never come again.
The woman was now nothing more than a figure in his memories, and the boy himself was nothing more than a ghost of the past.
That was the life of the insignificant Baek Ga-on—no, Nasuno Kenji.
“Cough.”
In sync with the cough, congested blood surged up from my chest. But this wasn’t an internal injury caused by a sword strike. This was an aftereffect from that day—the day the Black Shower occurred.
Yeah, I had been exposed.
So intensely that my constitution and even my organs had been altered.
‘Go, at least you. Hurry!’
A voice that clung to my ears and refused to fall away.
It was only after 16 years had passed that I finally realized she had been my mother.
And who my father was as well.
Leaving the Miyauchi Group had been the natural course of events. They were the ones who had given Kenji a false history and a false name.
Even so, I had no desire to return to Baekdu. My body had already been ruined, and there was no way to prove anything in the first place. But I still wanted revenge.
Against the one who had thrown my mother and me into hell and abandoned us.
I could say I had achieved half of it. I had taken the life of Baek Geum-do, who had directly harmed us. If there was one regret, it was that I hadn’t even been able to get close to Baek Seok-do.
Well, it wasn’t something that could be solved by forcing it. In anything less than perfect condition, I would only end up being defeated.
Beside Baek Seok-do, there was that guy.
‘Alfredo.’
An android connected to the artificial intelligence that oversaw Baekdu. Regrettably, facing him would have to wait until later.
As I clutched my aching chest, a certain girl entered the alley. Pink hair tied into twin braids. The scissors hanging at her waist clanked conspicuously.
First of all, the size itself was abnormal.
Rather than a household tool, it would be more accurate to call it an execution device.
Yet unlike the ominous weapon she carried, the girl hummed innocently.
“Pathetic, pathetic. Lost to a nameless fixer, how pathetic~.”
A tone that subtly—no, blatantly—mocked me. As I glared without realizing it, her face came fully into view.
Her gaze looked down arrogantly. The way she kept snickering made her resemble a walking cactus.
For a moment, it felt like our eyes met, but it must have been a mistake. I was using my ability.
Yet the girl stopped precisely in front of me.
“It smells like a wild beast.”
“…….”
After awakening my ability, I had constantly driven myself forward. In the end, I had even managed to control my presence—but my scent was something I could never completely erase.
Because of that, I always paid attention to deodorizing, but this time I hadn’t been able to. I had just come out of a life-and-death battle.
“Ah, I know everything. That you’re groaning here, and that you’d eventually show yourself in front of me.”
Hearing her speak so definitively made a strange stubbornness well up inside me. In the first place, how was I supposed to lower my guard without even knowing who she was?
“Ah, you’re shy. Then I guess it can’t be helped.”
Just as I thought she might give up and leave, the girl pulled out her scissors.
“Guess I’ll have to take you out myself.”
Snip— the moment her upper-body-sized scissors opened and closed, my concealment was undone almost simultaneously.
At the unexpected encounter, Kenji’s brow twisted. At that raw, unfiltered expression, the girl gave a sly smile—
“Let’s go together, mister.”
She suddenly held out her hand. Kenji only stared at it without taking it.
“What are you?”
“I’m a feral cat collector.”
***
When Baek Seok-do stepped in, the commotion subsided in an instant. This had happened in the main house, no less. On top of that, there were no witnesses. Since both the perpetrator and the victim belonged to the same family, there was nothing that couldn’t be covered up.
Originally, Baek Geum-do, who stood at the center of the incident, should have been held accountable—but he had already passed away.
Instead, a bounty was placed in Baekdu’s name on Kenji, the one who killed him. Regardless of Baek Geum-do’s true intentions, it remained a fact that Kenji had violated a taboo no fixer should ever break.
Meanwhile, Baek Ryang, who had been manipulated by Baek Geum-do into bringing Baek Gi into the megacorp, was stripped of his status as a successor. From the shock, he reportedly developed aphasia. It was such a fitting condition that it almost seemed as if someone had ‘designed’ it.
Lastly, Baek Gi.
As a key witness who had brought down Baek Ryang, he was supposed to remain under Baekdu’s escort indefinitely—but the situation changed completely when a third party intervened.
The Public Enforcement Corps stormed in and took him away directly.
And they did so with an arrest warrant stamped by the board of directors.
It went without saying that it was the organization Jin Geon belonged to. Baek Seok-do seemed to vaguely recognize their influence as well, as he handed Baek Gi over without protest.
It was practically the same as severing the connection to the Meta-human, yet I felt no regret. Even though I had a chance to question him directly, I had deliberately avoided approaching him.
At best, I would have only learned the organization’s name and its purpose. The former was meaningless, and the latter was already easy enough to guess.
Besides, extracting answers from Baek Gi would have required violence, and that would only leave traces.
To draw Jin Geon’s attention over such trivial information would have been absurd.
In any case, there was no need to rush. One way or another, they would contact me. That was precisely why I had taken the position of advisor.
“……thanks.”
As if cutting through my thoughts, a faint voice slipped in. When I turned my head, I saw Baek Seol.
“What did you say?”
“I said thank you. I heard from Sol—she said you did amazing. If it weren’t for you, I’d probably be the one in my brother’s position right now. But, you know…….”
Trailing off, Baek Seol rubbed her palm against her thigh for no reason. Even so, she didn’t forget to clear her throat awkwardly. Anyone could tell she had something she wanted to say.
“What is it?”
“When are you going to call me noona?”
“……noona?”
“When you’re officially registered, you’ll be below me in the family hierarchy. Wouldn’t it be strange to keep calling me Miss Snow?”
It was a very reasonable point, but Ga-on couldn’t answer easily. He had never thought about it. He had already lost his family long ago. Of course, even three hundred years ago, it wasn’t like he had ever had a noona to begin with.
As Ga-on wondered what to do with this blood-related situation, Baek Seol interpreted it differently. His hesitation looked exactly like—
“You’re embarrassed, right? Well, I guess you never imagined you’d have such a pretty family member. As your noona, I should give you time to adjust.”
“Of course you would.”
“Obviously. I’m looking forward to the day you call me noona.”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
Since sarcasm didn’t work on Baek Seol, Ga-on simply shrugged in response. Im Sol, who had been listening to their conversation, only shook her head as if to say they were hopeless.
***
If something ends, something else begins.
For Ga-on, it was the liberal arts classes that started this week. As a member of the royal family, Baekdu’s policy was that one must possess at least a minimum level of refinement.
Having lived for three hundred years, Ga-on had been to all sorts of places. He possessed a solid base of knowledge, enough that he could perform perfectly at any time if he chose to.
However, appearing overly seasoned wasn’t always a good thing—especially for someone who came from the streets as a fixer. So he was deliberately holding back and blending in.
Then, one day—
“The Chairman is calling for you.”
A summons from Baek Seok-do had arrived.